How chunky is the gravel? I would run the thundero as mentioned or even something in the 45 range that is fast rolling if its not too chunky.
Pretty mild gravel. Its during the winter so I assume mud could be a concern.
1 Like
50 mm RX PRO is an easy choice here.
re the Terreno XC raceā¦ there is a new version of that out. Mega fast.
1 Like
I am sometimes faster with a tire which has good grip but may be a bit slower in general. It depends on the course, cutting through corners can save more seconds than rolling faster on straight parts.
I did run Specialized Pathfinder Pro for a very long time. They are done and Iām using older tires (Schwalbe G One Bite) for the moment. They have so much grip! By testing standards they are slower, still Iām beating PRs here and there. (Not a scientific test though.)
1 Like
I think the confidence a tire gives is something that canāt show up in testing. Like you saidā¦ it may be a āslowerā tire but if you have the confidence to rip through corners you are going to be faster every time.
4 Likes
Has anyone tried the Schwalbe G-One R Pro 50mm, or in any other size, that can share their experience? I plan to use them for both pavement and gravel, 50/50.
Iāve had a few minor cuts in recent tires (Michelin Pro 5 35mm, Conti gpx 5000 S TR 32mm, Schwalbe G-One RS Super Race 45, in gravel bike; Aspen 2.4 in MTB bike) only happening in pavement, probably from glass shards. In the case of the Aspen it was were the casing rolls in contact with the road, between knobs. These minor cuts were sealed during the rides, but when using rollers they reopened and sprayed sealant. Putting a small plug sealed the cut, but then the tire was bumpy when using rollers. I had to patch the tires myself, as LBS did not want to patch tubeless tires intended to still be tubeless.
Iām not looking for a slick āenduranceā tire that may have extra protection for cuts, just trying to avoid tires with much higher rolling resistance.
So Iām looking at the G-One R Pro 50mm (only in transparent). It looks like the knobs are tight enough so that the casing wonāt roll in contact with the road, and BRR numbers look good, with even lower rolling resistance than the RS or RX siblings of same size, and may be a better fit for my use case.
I ran the G-One R in 45mm a few years ago and liked it at the time. It held up well but I wasnāt riding it in regions known to be particularly hard on tires (ie. Not flint hills or NW Arkansas). I moved on to a bike that could fit bigger tires and have mainly run Thunder Burts or Race Kings in 2.2 ever since but I did just put in an order for the G-One RS in 55mm. The RS is known to be very fast, especially when you have pavement sections mixed into your gravel ride or event. Iām very curious to see how it handles versus the Thunder Burts Iāve been using.
2 Likes
The bicycle station just released a video saying the 55mm g one is faster than the race king on their Enve mog. While not tested they say itās faster than the thunder burt too.
1 Like
Too bad I have zero faith in their testing results. Now if John Karrasch says so from his Chung testing it would be interestingā¦
8 Likes
Do their previous test results vary from tests you prefer? Saying the thunder Burt is faster than the race king on their ātest courseā is consistent with BRR.
Iām not saying they are right or wrong but from what Iāve seen they donāt seem outrageous.
1 Like
Agreed. They dont do the most valid testing. And honestly, their videos get a bit annoying to watch
2 Likes
Havenāt ridden the R but the RX is the best gravel tire Iāve ever ridden (50mm and 45mm)
3 Likes
+1. I watch some of their videos, but donāt put much stock into their test results. In John Kās testing (which is solid IMO), the 45mm G-one RS was surprisingly the same as both thunder burts on pavement (where smaller tires with no knobs often do better). And it was just little faster than the 2.2 race king. As it got chunkier, the gap widened and the 45mm G-one RS was significantly slower than both the TB or RK. Iām not sure what pressure each of those tires was tested at, which can make it tough to compare tires of different sizes. I assume the difference would be much smaller on chunkier gravel if testing the 55mm version at lower pressure. In Johnās testing, it still appears that the fastest MTB tires are holding their own against the fastest gravel tires as far as CRR. And with a MTB tire, you get a traction/cornering advantage and possibly a tire less prone to flats.
As much as I like the MTB tires for gravel racing (even on tame gravel and road), I still plan to buy a set of the G-one RS 55ās to do some of my own testing with.
Hereās a couple screen shots of Johnās testing with the 45mm version included.
2 Likes
Based on the testing, the G-one RS was faster than the RK all the way up to and including Cat 2 gravel. Once it hit Cat 3, the RK became significantly faster. For any race cat 2 and less, the G-one would technically be better, based purely on rolling resistance.
3 Likes
Thereās an aero penalty tho for these bigger tires . I think John has said like 5-7 watts or something? (Donāt quote me on that). A 45mm or even some 50mm gravel tires sit pretty flush on my wide rims and I canāt help but feel the few watts of more RR is made up for my being more aero. At least they feel aero and look cool 
need to do some more testing but I am LOVING the Schwalbe gravel tires options right now.
3 Likes
45 v 55 is like 5 watts aero at 35 kph.
oh and Iāve got the 55 RS pro on the way to me.
10 Likes
Gotta agree with you on this. The RX is amazing. Really fast, good grip. Perfect IMO.
2 Likes
Yeah, agree completely (and why I said the the MTB and gravel tires compare well on CRR). The potential aero hit is part of the reason Iād like to do my own testing on the g-one RS 55 is to see how it compares overall to the RK (and the TB as well). I remember the RK 2.2 testing unusually well in the wind tunnel when silca/dylan did those tests on wide rims (cda similar to much smaller tires). They didnāt have a firm explanation for why, but speculated that the sidewall texture on the RK might have been contributing.
Is the sidewall texture also on the dubnitall?
Dubs have a pattern, but itās totally different. And I personally wouldnāt bet on the RK texture being the difference. Itās pretty subtle, nothing extreme. I suspect it was either something off with the testing they did or maybe something about how the tire knobs were interacting with air passing over the tire and wheels. Itās not unreasonable to think a knobby tire could actually be more aero than a similar sized smooth tire, sometimes that can help with the boundary layer like how a golf ball has dimples to disrupt the airflow. Iām far from an aero expert, just know that it can be a bit of an unpredictable crap shoot.
2 Likes